Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Noelle Joy Sorenson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Noelle Joy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned by doing and by watching the pros. When I first started in film and television, I was willing to do featured background and stand in work. You are literally a fly on the wall and in my case, I was on the same shows, 2-3 times a week for almost a year. You get to know the crew and cast better that way. I also took every opportunity to go to master classes and director talks at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was such a great opportunity to sit across from the legends and hear them talk about the business. Tarantino, Scorsese, Coppola, DeNiro, Howard, Grazer, Spielberg-just to name a few. It all made sense to me, and I was organically drawn to the bigger picture-pun intended.

At the time I thought I just wanted to be an actor, however I noticed I was most intrigued, inspired and motivated by the Auteurs, writers and directors, and yes sometimes even the showrunners. Funny anecdote-when I was 19 a psychic in Queens by the name of Marilyn, who was married to a Joe and kept tons of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio paraphernalia in the house told me that ultimately, I would love being behind the camera. That I would want to learn every aspect of the business and that performing would become secondary to the actual creation of the project. I remember being annoyed by that reading, at the time, but thinking about it now, I see she was right.

Speeding up the process, I don’t think it’s productive to go there, at least not for me. I think I had to experience everything I experienced in order to write, direct, act, and put everything together. I’ve done so many creative things and I think it was all valuable.

I can’t say my life has been boring, it has been anything but. If I absolutely had to say something-maybe not let my demons derail me. That’s happened, but if it hadn’t, I don’t know if I would have so many story outlines right now. I don’t know if I would be able to write strong female protagonists that are their own heroes. I highly doubt it. Maybe the detours were the glue? Who knows?

The skills most essential I think are do your homework in advance. Learn from the best you can get your hands on. Take time to learn your craft but don’t make it too precious. Don’t be afraid to start and most importantly be positive, care about people, create a structure of teamwork that mirrors a family in the best sense on set. Make people want to work with you again. Relationships are everything.!

As for obstacles, geez, I hate to say this but my family and my own fears and demons that were developed out of those paradigms that weren’t necessarily mine. It’s worth it to do the work to overcome that stuff and never give up. I put in the time and effort and I’m so glad for the clarity and strength I gained in doing so.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Noelle Joy Sorenson, and my debut short film “HeArT,” has made me an international award-winning director and filmmaker. I have a lifelong background as a creative artist and educator with a background in dance, music, acting and filmmaking. In addition, my work with children is extensive, which has resulted in my expanding educational coaching business, One World Learning.

I have a passion for bringing insight, inspiration, support and healing to those I work with, coach or entertain through storytelling. I am currently working on a new screenwriting project which I am very excited about. The craft of screenwriting is something that I am delving into on a deeper level as it is important to me to create stories that uplift. Primarily I write with female protagonists that are their own heroes. The success that I had with my debut film, HeArT, is one of my proudest moments. I was told that it wasn’t a good idea for me to write, direct, star, edit and produce my own film. I was told it would be a flop. HeArT has been selected by over 80 festivals world-wide and we have won 23 awards including best actress, best actor, best director, best first-time filmmaker, best narrative short and best trailer.

Gratitude and service as well as a deep desire to continually grow and evolve is my credo. I don’t really feel that I have two careers. I have one career, being of service. Whether helping children or developing a script, directing, or acting, it is always about service, connecting with others and ultimately making a difference in a positive way. This can be anything from seeing a child succeed, to leaving a crew with a positive uplifting work experience as well as having them feel good about working with me.

I have recently developed a Facebook page for One World Learning. This has become another wonderful way for me to connect with specialists in education and healing. I do this to help families and the children that they are supporting. I am passionate about both filmmaking and creativity as well as helping children.

My style of teaching is holistic and out of the box. I believe learning can be fun and should be done in a multitude of environments if possible and of course depending on what the client needs. I also am a reading specialist utilizing the Wilson Reading Program as my core. I have a 100% success rate with the children that stay the course. I am most recently working on group programs for reading whether virtually or in person. I absolutely get the same job done using either platform. Other challenges that O.W.L. addresses are ASD, ADHD, dyslexia, Early intervention, elementary academia, Early childhood, behavioral modifications and family training. Teaching is a family legacy as my mother and grandmother were educators. My mother passed from cancer due to her staying outside, three blocks from the towers when they went down during 911. She was an administrator and made sure that every child was released to a proper caregiver. One World Learning is part of that legacy.

My creativity has been important since I could stand, speak and sing. I have been fortunate to have the foresight, even as a child, to seek out the best in the business to learn from. Some mentors during that time were Frank Hatchett and David Sorin Collyer, with my education including Mannes College of Music, Steps on Broadway, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and countless other fantastic learning environments and mentors. When all is said and done, all of this is really one thing: connection. Whether to uplift, inspire, educate or entertain, it is always about people. Caring and connecting to others is the underlying force that drives everything I do as well as a bit of this mysterious force that continues to direct me each morning as I rise. Thank you to everyone and anyone who has taken the time to read this and connect with me in some way here. I want to say to everyone, “you matter, what you do matters, and that we have found each other, even in this small way matters, because at the end of the day we are all in this together, this earth, this life, this time.” Thank you for being here and thank you for connecting with me.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I was told by acting coaches and a filmmaker friend that my debut film would be difficult, that I couldn’t direct it and star in it successfully, that it was “too hard”, that I should expect my first attempt to “suck”. You really can’t listen to the outside voices when following your vision. For me, I have a meditation practice among other tools that I use to ground and get to the inner state of things. I also make sure I have certain supports outside of myself that steer me to clarity and what’s possible. Don’t believe in the impossible, believe in what’s possible and then just keep putting one foot in front of the other in the direction of your vision or dreams. The result was that I did write, direct, produce, star and even do all the cuts and sound decisions in editing for HeArT and the film did very well on the festival circuit. That experience has strengthened a muscle for me in that now I don’t hesitate so much with new goals. I don’t worry about others and share my visions with very few. The main person that has to believe in me is me.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Be honest while being supportive to artists. What I mean by that is we need solid constructive criticism and a road map from the best you can get a hold of. Those that have achieved, give back by giving opportunities to those that are embarking. We all rise together, there is enough for everyone, and there’s no reason not to encourage and support or at the very least tell them where to get information or training from viable sources. I think it’s also important to keep one’s own negativity and fear to oneself. Don’t spread the disease so to speak.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.noellejoysorenson.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noellesorenson?igsh=MXR4MXJ5MHJ5OTN0eg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1XQJHKKotY/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Image Credits

Leslie Hassler Studio